Thematic King's Indian Bishop Sacrifice

 Was reminded of an old chess friend from Houston, Texas in the following game. Mick Bighamian(USCF rating of around 2400 at the time) said something that really stuck in my mind. The specificity of his claim made me realize that Chess players are really inveterate nerds. "when the unmoved c8 Bishop sacrifices itself at h3 the result of game is frequently, if not always, in favor of the second player". Now that may not be exactly the way Mick phrased it, but if he reads this I am sure he would agree with the paraphrasing. He had close to a photographic memory for positions which is a big part of the reason he was a senior master and one of the top 5 or so players in Bayou City. 

Another master from the region, Todd Thomas, penned an accurate quote in the Texas Knights monthly periodical stating that the late Robert Brieger was on chess nerd fringe in the same fashion that chess nerds are on the fringe of society at large. Todd was lampooning Brieger for making a big deal about the difference between the terms Zugzwang and Squeeze. Funny how certain things just stick in your head!!

So check out the position, arising from a Dutch Defense,  where Mick's always winning move wipes out Australian player Pritoka. After Bxh3, the f8 Rook occupies f3 square with fatal consequences. The Black king regicide is only avoided by the 9 pointer giving herself up. 

I do love this kind of position where an "undeveloped piece" is actually the most active force on the board! This actually shows how the nebulous concept of development as it is taught sometime in middle school as "just getting you pieces out" is quite mistaken.

Would like to close by paying tribute to the now defunct Dave's Chess Studio. Lotta good times there around 20 years ago, but alas the inconstancy of friendship and life getting in the way prevails. 

Minority Attack Versus a Breezy Queen Side Pawn Structure

 A nice guy named Randy Bonds told me about the minority attack in the exchange variation of the Queen's Gambit where White's a and b pawns advance to weaken the three black queen side pawns(two pawns versus three pawns sounds like a minority to me!!)

The following setup against something like a Kings Indian Defense reminded me of the Dave's Chess Studio mainstay. As you can see, White voluntarily moved his pawn to c5 just to be triple attacked!!

Since it does not look like Black will get any kind of initiative with the standard KI f5 etc, White can pile his Rooks up on the b,c, and d files in a target practice sort of fashion not particularly worried about being a pawn down.

Also "The awakening of the men in the rear" might apply here with the f3 Knight hopping to the ideal c4 square. 

Minority attack adherents include Fotzus Zachus, Richard Dickinson, Rod MacNevin, arnav kapur, Ellen Revell

Tolerating what appears to be a Dangerous Check

Weak pawns frequently control important squares. See the commentary of D. Naroditsky in the seminal game of pawn health versus piece mobility(Carlson/Nakamura) where the 5 time US champion possessed an uncompromised pawn structure and two horses versus the tattered pawns and Bishop Pair of the World Champion. Great article about it in the United States periodical Chess Life.

Also master Quora commentator Tom Wilkins writes about Naroditsky's winning online blitz record against King Magnus.

Ultrarunner, hailing from Denmark, plays boring but winning chess at ICC with his pet line the King's Indian Attack. In the diagrammed position, White "threatens" Queen to d8 check. This is an instance of playing safe or conservatively. OTB players would be inclined to play the safe defensive move Qe7. However White's impotent prelate at f3 would make a postal player scratch his whiskers and consider the greedy Queen captures pawn at b3 not fearing the "meaningless check" since the White light squared  Bishop is poorly placed not being able to aid in attacking what appears to be a vulnerable Black Monarch!!

A dude at ChessFox.com can relate to all this citing Philidor's claim that pawns are the soul of chess. I find it sooo odd that the owner of ChessFox never identifies themselves, but want you to buy chess tutorials from them. Maybe a lower rate player who thinks it would hurt his bottom line or sales?

Piece Sac to Mobilize Two Center Pawns

ChessIsMyWife is a low rated, very aggressive United Sates player who loves playing at the internet chess club. He is equally enamored with the King's Indian Defense.

Any serious KI chess player is acutely aware of the weak d-pawn that helps keep his d6,e5,f4 pawn chain intact while he organizes a pawn storming King side attack. It is also well known that if White can crash through on the Queen side, Black's King's field can become a bit breezy if not indefensibly weak.

In the diagrammed position, Black is guarding his d6 pawn with Queen, Knight at e8, and Bishop at f8.

White recognizing the long term benefit of the center pawn duo, sacrificed his b2 Bishop at e5. After the c4 Knight recaptures the capturing pawn at e5 with a tempo on the f7 Rook, White can slowly prepare the steamrolling effect of his d and e  pawns.

The well known dictum of a secure, locked center being a necessary precursor for a flank attack is exploited in the first player's favor with this piece sacrifice. Note that White would likely not capture the poorly placed Rook if Black chose not to move it although the beautifully placed e5 Knight might want to get out of the way of the e4 pawn lusting to expand. Johathan Rowson, I am sure would have a humorous conversation with his obstructive steed to see if Horse agreed.

Rowson wrote,perhaps, the most seminal chess psychology book in our game's voluminous body of literature. He spoke of the circular motion of the Knight conjoined with the linear motions of the other pieces. The Scottish GM illustrated the value of gumption and the perils of over thinking and wasting time being overly concerned about the outcome of the game.

Positional King's Indian Players

Am I the only chess player who is frustrated when a King's Indian Defense player opts for Nd7 instead of playing the famous Mar Del Plata Nc6 move? I thought all KI players were attacking fools who would prefer to go down in a blaze of glory rather than acquiesce to a boring endgame even if they were winning that endgame!! Not true as Black can offer Lewis McClary's moron defense(you can read more about this very playable defense at a Houston chess blog maintained by Wilson) and then play Nd7 hoping to occupy c5 and play positionally.



The following game shows how Irish born chess player Eugene Curtin beats Robert Sulman. Curtin displays extraordinary patience and aplomb waiting for Sulman to overextend his King side pawns which fatally exposed his King to the Bc2/Qd3 mating pair.

The game ends when Sulman erroneously captures back with his e5 pawn allowing the diagonal opening space clearance thrust e5 which leaves the mating square h7 indefensible.

Pawn Roller for a Piece

In the following chess position  reached  via a King's Indian Defense, White's Knight at b5 has just been attacked by a pawn pushed to a6. Note that Black's weak d6 pawn can not be captured as it is guarded by the Queen and the e8 Knight.

So what to do with the harried horse? Retreating to c3 would be the natural option in this fight or flight situation. I will give you a hint. Pawn duos(two pawns side by side) increase in strength depending on how far advanced they are. For example a pawn duo on the fifth rank can be strong, but not as potent as a duo on the sixth rank.

I think Hans Kmoch might consider this position worthy of inclusion in his book titled Pawn Power where he develops an unnecessarily cumbersome lexicon of terminology with terms like sealer, sweeper, melanpenia, etc.